It turns out that the Brooklyn daycare center where cops and robbers had a shootout above napping children Friday wasn't just a pickup spot for neighborhood parents. After cops returned to Special Moments Day Care in East Flatbush with suspicions that the burglars going after a suitcase full of cash might be part of an inside job, they discovered that the center was doubling as a drug den when they uncovered ten pounds of marijuana and $100,000 in cash.
Police Commisioner Ray Kelly told reporters, "Obviously, they were doing more than just taking care of children...It now appears the day-care center was a drug haven, or where drugs in significant quantities were kept, primarily marijuana. It appears to be what the robbers were looking for."
Sherwin Rogers, the husband of owner Donna Rogers, must have thought letting police into the weed spot they were running was worth the risk since Friday was both payday as well as delivery day for their large quantity of marijuana. Yesterday the pair was arrested on possession charges.
Some neighbors said that the couple definitely seemed suspicious, recently purchasing two new cars. A neighbor from the local Block Association told NY1, "I'm not very surprised pertaining to the arrests because when people try to stay private, that means they don't want anyone to get close to them."
Police hadn't spotted the large quantity of pot in the center's basement when they initially searched the facility while pizza was given to the kids following the shootout. (One of the suspected burglars was shot twice, but ended up in stable condition.) One father of a child sleeping during the shooting said, "I mean it's like ... it's messed up. I didn't think [Rogers] was on it like that. I'm definitely not happy—you have people's kids in there!"
